Apologies for absence were received from County Cllr Bryan Sweetland (KCC), Cllr Brian Francis and Cllr Leslie Hills.

The minutes of the meeting of the Board held on Wednesday, 09 March 2022 were signed by the Chair.

Cllr Nirmal Khabra declared an interest as he was a local taxi driver in the Borough of Gravesham.

Cllr Conrad Broadley declared an interest as was a resident of Dover Road.

Cllr Tony Rana declared an interest as he was a resident of White Hill Road.

Cllr Meade declared an interest as his grandmother was a resident on Hillingdon Road.

Cllr Meade requested clarity on whether the meetings of Gravesham Joint Transportation Board were private or public meetings and why the agenda/minutes were not published on the Councils website. Additionally, Cllr Meade suggested that future meeting dates of the Board should be published on the Councils and KCC’s website

The Chair agreed to seek clarification outside of the meeting. 

Members were presented with an update on actions that were requested or promised at the previous Gravesham JTB meeting.

Minute 11. Reports from Officers 173.1 Bath Street - Fastrack Infrastructure Scheme

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) apologised as the update report on Bath Street attached at item 8c on the agenda was supposed to be submitted to a previous Board meeting, but it should answer any outstanding questions by Members.

Minute 14 - Old Road East Speeding Vehicles - Request from Cllr Tony Rana

Cllr Rana advised that he was still waiting for work to be completed that was agreed under the former KCC officer Claire Venner but stopped completely during Covid. Cllr Rana explained that the area was getting worse, especially at the bottom of White Hill Road as the pavement had completely reduced to road level due to the number of cars driving over the kerb every day.

Cllr Rana further added that White Hill school, as of this week, had decided to only use one of the entrances on Sun Lane to allow students to enter/exit school grounds in the mornings which had caused significant traffic and numerous parent complaints. Cllr Rana was due to visit the site in-person tomorrow morning to witness the trouble and had scheduled a meeting with the Head Teacher to discuss alternative solutions.

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) advised that he was waiting for data for that area and the matter was now being dealt with by Ian Gregor; no update on the matter could be submitted with the Matters Arising document as Ian Gregor was on annual leave. The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) explained that it was his intention to ensure that KCC officers regularly met with Members in between Gravesham JTB meetings to give updates on issues and progress updates on schemes.

Cllr Ridgers reminded the Board that when he was Chair, following his request and his grant money, Claire Venner installed a camera to monitor speeding along Old Road East towards Prince of Orange and Echo Square. That data must be stored somewhere at KCC, and Cllr Ridgers asked that it be found to assist with data for White Hill Road. Cllr Ridgers noted that at the time the average miles per hour speed was within the speed limits with only a few cars going over the limits.

Cllr Rana explained that the resident that made the complaint about speeding along Old Road Eats lived on the other side of Echo Square with cars heading towards St Johns School; there was a downhill part of the road where drivers accelerated and caused the issue.

Cllr Meade recalled when former County Councillor John Cubitt used his Member grants to pay for ‘school slow’ signs on that stretch of road on Old Road East and requested an update to see if the signs were still operational.

Minute 14 - London Road Cycle Scheme – Request from Cllr Singh

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) confirmed that the cycle  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Board was presented with Gravesham’s highway forward works programme for 2022-23 onwards. The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) informed the Board that the report updated Members on the identified schemes approved for construction.

The Chair went through the report page by page and asked for Member comments.

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) agreed to circulate the latest information regarding updated Members on the latest information for Appendix A – Road, Footway and Cycleway Renewal and Preservation Scheme and Appendix H – Combined Member Grant Programme Update in the minutes.

Following Members comments and questions, the Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) explained that:

• KCC had written to Texaco Garage on Perry Street regarding the significant puddle outside their garage; it was thought that the issue had been fixed but the water was now flowing down the road towards Perry Street. The Drainage Team were investigating the issue
• The contractors hired to install slow signs outside Timberwood Academy were catching up on a backlog of work and would install the slow signs soon 
• The salt bins on Trinity Road would be refilled soon

The Board were presented with a briefing note on the Traffic Management Act 2004 which advised of the new powers KCC had for traffic enforcement. The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) explained that the report wasn’t being submitted to other Kent Authorities Joint Transportation Boards until next month.

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) field questions from Members and explained that:

• The Traffic Enforcement Team was managed by Neil Edwards and his team decided what cases to enforce
• As a whole, KCC had identified seven areas in Kent to pilot the traffic enforcement scheme in; within Gravesham, the only area identified was the Clive Road Bus gate
• Members of Joint Transportation Boards were encouraged to recommend areas to the Traffic Enforcement Team where traffic enforcement was needed

The Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager explained that the traffic management act powers would follow the same processes as parking enforcement legislation; KCC gave Gravesham delegated authority to enforce parking. The Scheme being proposed would be conducted by KCC and enforced through the use of ANPR cameras instead of officers. Any new moving traffic offense such as the request for a new ANPR camera would need to be carried out with the same consultation and processes as requesting parking restrictions and Board approval would be sought.

Following a question regarding the letter that was requested to be sent to KCC regarding allowing taxis through the Clive Road bus gate in a trial scheme, the Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager explained that the letter was awaiting Chair approval and it was KCC’s decision if certain vehicles were exempt from the ANPR cameras. The Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager agreed to ask the new Chair to sign off the letter so that it could be sent to KCC.

The Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager had also requested that the Bus Gate Project Group attend a future JTB meeting to discuss the use of the bus gate and enforcement.

Cllr Meade requested that data be brought back to the Board on how enforcement powers had been used across the Borough and the effectiveness of those enforcement powers as that data would be helpful in future decision making with regard to types of enforcement.  

The Board were presented with a report which provided Members with a progress update for the Bath Street Contraflow Bus Lane scheme including the proposed routes for the scheme. 

The Gravesend & Dartford District Manager (KCC) advised that KCC felt that the best time to conduct a trial of allowing taxis to use the bus gate was when the ANPR camera had been installed as true readings of traffic flow could then be monitored.

The Chair allowed several Members to raise various issues which would be submitted to KCC for actioning.  

Cllr Broadley advised that former Councillor, John Loughlin had emailed Cllr Broadley regarding the chevron markings in Parrock Street near St Johns RC Church.

The Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager advised that the chevron markings on that stretch of road meant ‘no loading’ and were investigated by himself and the Parking & Highways Officer; they both agreed that the markings were no longer needed and could be removed. That stretch of road had been earmarked as a potential site for a taxi electric vehicle charging point, but the Parking & Environmental Enforcement Services Manager needed to find out if the charging point was viable before any plans were made.

Cllr Ridgers highlighted the following issues:

• Athboy Road – Athboy Road was still closed to the public and only being used to store the vehicles of the construction crew that had made changes to Garrick Street bus station. Cllr Ridgers wanted the vehicles removed and the road reopened to the public

• Wrotham Road – Parking in Wrotham Road and Trafalgar Road was very bad; Cllr Ridgers noted that out of nineteen recent journeys he had made, there had been seventeen instances where cars were parked on the pavement over yellow lines on both roads. Cllr Ridgers wanted more patrols in the area to deter yellow line parking

• Puddle – There was a huge puddle outside of the Woodlands Hotel & Restaurant which went halfway across the road. Cllr Ridgers stated that the contractors that resurfaced the road last year should be brought back to take a look

• E-Scooters – E-Scooters were still causing a problem on the roads and the pavement and action needed to be taken to deal with them although Cllr Ridgers recognised that they did not fall within the remit of the Board

Cllr Rana highlighted the following issues:

• White Hill School – The Sun Lane entrance and the Jellicoe Avenue entrance were causing significant traffic issues

• School Road – The issue at School Road had been raised with Claire Venner and she carried out a site visit. Planning permission had been given to a premise on Jellicoe Avenue which allowed them to build a big extension that backed onto School Road. Parents from White Hill School had raised concerns that the extension combined with deliveries being made and the road being used by vehicles recklessly caused a hazard to children walking to school. Cllr Rana asked that a foot four fence be erected outside the school and along School Road to stop vehicles being able to drive over the pavement and provide protection for children walking to and from school

Cllr Meade highlighted the following issues:

• St Gregory’s Crescent – Recent storms had caused damage to the pavement in St Gregory’s Crescent; contractors had carried out repairs to the area, but it wasn’t completed to a high enough standard which resulted in very uneven pavement causing a hazard to the many wheelchair users  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.